PAGE 21 - OPEN YOUR UMBRELLA AND KEEP MARCHING
.....In 1975 I had a dream of starting an electric car company. I told my father and a few friends about my ideas, how I was going to build this electric car and how I was going to achieve greater speed, distance and appeal for electric transportation. One friend invested in my car company because he liked the idea of an electric car, four friends invested because they believed in me and my father invested because he was my father. Now, with six investors and 12,000 dollars, I went to work.
.....One of my ideas for the electric car was to make something that had eye appeal. Most of the electric's to date were conversions of old cars that almost no one liked when they were gas cars, like Renaults. Working in the garage until two and three in the morning every night, I proceeded to build a replica of a 1938 Mercedes Benz.
.....Many people heard about the electric car venture from the investors and something new happened. A rain of negative comments began to fall on me like pebbles and quickly grew into an avalanche of boulders. Comments like "what makes you think you can make an electric car
better than a car company with a team of highly educated engineers?" etc., etc. As the weeks passed, I began to have doubts about my ability to reach my dream. I soon began to fear that not only would I fail, I would have wasted my friends money. One year after it's beginning the Elsmore's Electric Car Co. died. I borrowed money and paid back everyone's investment.
.....As I reflect back on my life, I have accomplished many goals and dreams, but none so grand as the electric car company. There's no way to know the outcome of the electric car company now, but when I gave up I became less
.....Those who would criticize you and your dreams are usually those who have no dream of their own. We are each unique and special in our own way, ever changing and ever growing. If you constantly change to be what others think you should be, you will look in the mirror one day and see nothing because you will be nobody. Next time someone starts to rain on your parade, open your umbrella and keep right on marching.
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